224 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 



A favourite trick of the Yarkand boys is to capture one of these Doves 

 and smear its feathers aU over with soot mixed up with oil. The bird 

 is then allowed to fly away, and after a few days, when the feathers 

 have shaken into their ordinary position, the Ring-Dove presents quite 

 a natural appearance, only as it moves about with its fellows it looks 

 truly a Dove in mourning." 



It is a very sociable bird, and is generally foimd feeding in some 

 numbers together, but it, strictly speaking, keeps more in pairs than in 

 flocks, only coUecting in these latter prior to indulging in one of their 

 local migrations when, according to some writers, they assemble in 

 very large numbers, often of a hundred or so more individuals. 



Their flight is much the same as that of the Spotted Dove, but 

 stronger and quicker ; they rise off the ground in the same noisy 

 manner, but, when disturbed, generally fly further before re-settUng. 



Their note is a trisyllabic " coo," repeated softly two or three 

 times, and is very melodious and sweet. According to Blyth it " is 

 quite different from that of the domestic Turtle-Dove, and may be 

 expressed by kookoo-koo, kookoo-koo." 



